I’m definitely on the mend. My physiotherapist (also known as prime torturer) suggested that I get a deep tissue massage for my shoulders and neck, but stay away from the occipital region or I could get massive headaches or dizziness. After reading her note for me to pass on, I kept putting it off. Willingly going to someone who could make you worse didn’t feel right.

I was talking with Bobbie from BAM’s Kitchen yesterday and she said I should just go for it with a positive attitude. While I was talking to her online, I was on the phone with the massage people and she said if I could get there in 30 minutes, they had an opening. Since the clinic is close enough to walk to, I was in. Scared… but in.

Not only was it good but I came home with no dizziness at all and even my tinnitus took a 4 hour vacation. I did something stupid last night so I’m not as good as I was but a couple more massages and other bone tweaking and I might be right back in the thick of food blogging. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried over missing out on so much – or cried due to frustration. I am SO grateful to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Once it’s in the oven, it looks after itself!

My darling friend Charlie from Hotly Spiced has made this wonderful Lamb and Spinach Curry for me. It looks so tasty and I think this would be perfect to serve to my sister, nieces and granddaughter in a couple of weeks. Here’s Charlie’s curry.

—————–
I do love a meal that once in the oven, will look after itself. It gives me a great sense of satisfaction to know that I’m so organised, dinner is sorted two hours before anyone’s up at the table.

Sunday is my day for getting things in order for the week ahead. Last Sunday night I had eight people coming for dinner and knew that if I wanted to get on with my projects, I couldn’t spend the day in the kitchen. I needed to make something that wasn’t demanding on my time and so I made this lamb and spinach curry.

Marinade Ingredients

The inspiration for deciding to make a curry came from being at the fruit and vegetable store and seeing packets of fresh turmeric. You don’t see that very often and I keep reading about how good turmeric is for you and so have been trying to add a bit more to my diet. Be warned though, when you handle it, the colour will come out and your hands will be stained bright orange – but only for a day or so – no biggy.

Fresh Turmeric – if you can’t find it, dried will work just fine

If you’re super-organised and can plan ahead, you will buy the meat a day before and marinate it overnight. But I planned this meal on the day and allowed the meat four hours of marinating time which is good enough for a Sunday night family dinner.

Marinate overnight or if time starved, four hours will be fine

I ground up the spices in my spice grinder but if you don’t have one you can bash them in a mortar and pestle but you will need to be fully charged with elbow grease.

Serve with Basmati Rice

Once the curry is out of the oven, all you need to serve it with is some basmati rice. Now…basmati rice is very affordable and you can sometimes buy bags if it for around a dollar. However, I’ve become very fond of Tilda Basmati Rice that you pay a bit more for but trust me now, it’s worth it. The rice has an extra-long grain and when cooked is very fluffy and extremely aromatic.

Stir the spinach through just before serving.

You could also serve the curry with some Indian bread and it was my intention to make some however, those other projects ate into my schedule. And no one missed it; but if you do have the time, some home made Indian bread would compliment the curry beautifully.

If you don’t like heat you can pull back on the amount of chillies but why not take a walk on the wild side.

Place ginger, garlic, tumeric, pepper and yoghurt in a medium-sized non-reactive bowl and stir to combine. Add lamb and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for four hours.

Heat a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat and add cinnamon, coriander, cumin, cardamon and cloves. When aromatic (about a minute later), remove from heat and place in a spice grinder and whizz until powdered. (Or use a mortar and pestle and a lot of elbow grease). Add paprika and chilli flakes.

Preheat oven to 180C (375F).

Heat oil in a large ovenproof dish over high heat. Add onions and cook until softened (about 10 minutes). Add spices and cook until fragrant, (about another minute).

Add lamb mixture, tomatoes, tinned tomatoes, water and season with salt. Mix well.

Place a tight fitting lid on the dish and place in the oven for 90 minutes. Remove from oven and remove lid. If it seems like there’s a lot of liquid, return to the oven for 30 minutes without the lid; if all looks good, keep the lid on and return to the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and stir through the spinach and herbs keeping a few herbs aside to garnish.

Thank you so much to Charlie for making this wonderful curry for us. She’s such a terrific friend to so many bloggers. If you don’t know her, head on over to hotlyspiced.com. Make sure you go with a cup of coffee and a chair because you’ll have a great time reading her posts.